Crews have removed about 1,400 streetlight poles from Highland Park as part of a settlement that allowed the impoverished Detroit enclave to avoid paying $4 million in unpaid bills going back several years.

DTE Energy Co. has replaced about 200 lights with newer models on street corners, but most neighborhoods remain without streetlights, The Detroit News reported Tuesday. The Detroit-based utility said work is expected to be finished by Oct. 31.

DTE spokesman Len Singer said the utility began removing light poles in August, rather than just cutting off the power, to avoid lawsuits and confusion. The utility is under no obligation to power communities that don't pay their bills, but wanted to maintain some service, he said.

"We wanted to work with the city to maintain some level of service, and do so in a way that would allow the city to cover the bill each month," Singer said. "They simply weren't able to maintain the costs for having all the previous lights."

There are concerns about safety in areas where new streetlights aren't being put up.

"After they took the street light from in front of my business, someone climbed onto my roof and stole an air conditioning unit," said Bobby Hargrove, owner of Hargrove Machinery Sales. "I feel like I'm being punished — I've always paid my bills on time, but they took the street light anyway."

Highland Park Mayor Hubert Yopp, however, said crime has not increased since the lights were removed. Under the agreement, the financially troubled city was able to reduce its monthly utility bill from $62,000 to $15,000, an amount officials say fits the city's budget.

"We're no longer in debt, and our bill is lower each month," he said. "But I'm certainly not happy about the level of lighting in the city, and I'm doing whatever I can to work something out."

Yopp said he understands the frustration of residents and is trying to secure federal or state funding to restore lighting to the city's neighborhoods.

Some cities own light poles and pay DTE for electricity. In the case of Highland Park, the utility owns the lights, Singer said. Old poles were sold for scrap, Singer said, and the new ones will be powered via overhead lines rather than underground ones to make maintenance easier.

"Mostly, it was a liability issue; we didn't want to have poles there that were de-energized, and likely won't ever be energized again," Singer said. "Also, we wanted to avoid the confusion of having lights up that don't work. In the end, we figured it was better to just take them out."